In the final post from the Youtube Social Series, (much later than planned), we’re looking at popular channels, and what they do to drive engagement, increase their SEO heirarchy in Youtube’s personalised feed and encourage seeders to share.In Youtube Social Series previous post we discussed how to Customise your own branded Youtube Channel to make it work for your message and brand, to help build and sustain your community.

In the final post from the Youtube Social Series, we’re looking at popular channels, and what they do to drive engagement, increase their SEO heirarchy in Youtube’s personalised feed, next video, and encourage seeders to share.In Youtube Social Series previous post we discussed how to Customise your own branded Youtube Channel to make it work for your message and brand, to help build and sustain your community.

So what does this list tell us?That a lot of people have bad taste and too much time on their hands? I’m only a kidding (half kidding).The highly popular subject matters ranges across music, comedy, brand personalities, web series and a gaming and tech community culture. Not all of these have branded banners or are fully optimised, which is a surprise, but there are two aspects that they all have in common and that keep their community growing and returning again and again.

Consistency and Regularity. They present a new video every week/month without fail. This means their audience can rely on their internet channel broadcasters for more of their favourite shows which gives them reason to return time and again.

High Editing Values. Not to be confused with Production Values. It doesn’t have to have the quality of a high-gloss TV series but it does need to drive the topic through (fairly) fast-paced action and visually enticing energy. Its ok to move fast through points because the individual viewer can pause, skip and rewind if they miss anything. That’s is the point of the medium, (although later repetition is valid for learning).

For an alternative perspective, I’ve selected several channels that I personally, and some of the team subscribe to.The One that started as an external video community and brought them into Youtube to help build their brand presence with Youtube.TEDTalks – with 1, 449, 354 subscribers* (On their primary Channel)TED Talks (Technology, Education and Design) are videos of talks by thought-leaders and progressive ideas-peoples about absolutely any subject. They originally grew their grass-roots following of intelligently minded advocates, and later strengthening their online community, all centralizd and placed on their Ted.com site. This was long before Youtube became the go-to space for online video. Now they have 5 off-shoot Youtube channels, to help streamline finding and managing the subject topics.They still house the Ted Talk videos on their Ted.com site as well as upload them all onto one of their Youtube Channels, however Ted.com transferred the power of their popularity through to their Youtube presence. This benefited TED because it helped kick-start their subscription numbers, which in increased the social SEO reaching new audiences, opening up the capacity for more people to be able to embed the videos easier ensuring the videos were shared or seeded further. The added value Youtube also gives these talks is the translation capabilities. At the moment they have limited translation available on the videos via Ted.com but in Youtube the ideas really can spread across International divides.​

The One that caters for a wide range of tastes and demographics: The fan cultureWorld of Hero’s- with 290, 245 subscribersWorld of Hero’s caters for fans of the comic related content, sci-fi and fantasy and enthusiast cultures in the form of comedies and parodies and pop culture, offering both scripted and non-scripted shows to add the surprised element to shows.They offer fresh content on a weekly basis, but not as much as Geek and Sundry (that would be hard for most to keep up with) but because they offer something for everyone, from the serious hardcore cult fanzine to the comedic skits, it means they are highly viral, encouraging subscribers to share their passions.

​The One that started within Youtube and grew to create a huge fanbase community outside of Youtube.Geek and Sundry- with 673, 579 subscribersGeek and Sundry originally started out as the Online Production company/brand for comedic gaming reviews and cult-based shows, slowly forming die-hard fanbase for their popular web series The Guild (written and staring Felicia Day). I previously wrote a post which included The Guild, looking at how Web Series grow their fanbase.Geek and Sundry started with hard working team of gaming geeks, some with production experience, and grew into the popular cult following Geek and Sundry Internet Community. They now produce and upload a variety of webs shows about ‘indie geek culture’ every day, every week. They are a specialist TV channel in their right.

How would you judge whether a Youtube Channel was successful or not?a) By the number of subscribersb) By the rate subscription numbers fluxuate between subscribers and unsubscribers orc) By the content and conversation that drives engagement across through to other platforms and mediums and back?Which one would you choose?I would choose all of them and include the following:- ensure the channel is optimised for social, design and SEO (see post 2, Youtube’s Personalisation); review the SEO status of the channel over a long period of time; and measure the analytics over a 3-6 month span, minimum. Youtube subscribers can change a lot in 6 months. Just refer to the subscribers in the Top 10 list above.

The TAKE AWAYThere are many factors to creating a successful Youtube experience for your audience through your Youtube Channel, content videos and connected Google+ brand profile. All of which I have tried to cover in Youtube’s Social Series.You need good content that offers something to your audience; regularity; connect and optimise your brand’s presence; and create a strong narrative (brand or story) throughout to unite across platforms further than Youtube. Al these work towards a complete holistic Youtube experience that will help build and retain your community of advocates, share your expertise and increase the all important SEO rank results.​

Blog Author:

Kathryn is a Digital Marketing and Communications Specialist with 14+ years in the industry working with SME's and individuals, to corporate and public sector organisations. She is also a mum and one of the pioneers of holistic marketing - digital, consumer convergence. and practical management.